Cousins, Cousins!

Earlier this week we got a visit from some of our favorite little people (and auntie) from up north. My sister Abby brought her two kids Tanner and Lauren down for the day and boy did we have a circus! The five little ones played hard all day, mostly downstairs in the unfinished basement that is freezing! Before too long it was time for jammies and time for them to hit the long road back home.

I finally got the boys to sit still and look at me. Unfortunately, they look like deer caught in headlights.
Above is Lauren, my little niece. We all call her "Sissy". Isn't she beautiful! I asked her to smile for the camera and look below to see what a great smile I got. That's a big old crusty for such a sweet little girl! Notice that Lauren has Sam's crocs over the top of her footed jammies. What style!! Sam and a much happier Lauren reading stories.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub!!

I hope no one out there takes offense to these pictures, but we put Emmi in the tub with her brothers for the first time just the other night and I wanted to share how cute they turned out. One of my favorite pictures of me growing up is one where I am in the tub with my older sister and older brother and I guess I wanted to recapture that with my kids. I think it will still be a few months before I let her back in the tub with them, her little bum was so slippery, that she was sliding all over the place. She just about went under a few times. It was worth a try to see if she was ready.

Back to Ricks College...

I can't believe it has been 6 1/2 years since Chad and I met and graduated from Ricks College. (It is now BYU-Idaho, for those living under a rock!) Needless to say this place (Rexburg Idaho) is very special to both of us. With the new LDS temple in Rexburg, we thought it was a perfect time to take the kids for a visit and attend the open house.
Not only did Chad and I meet at Ricks, but both my parents and Chad's parents did as well! How perfect is that! We graduated in April 2001, and were married in the Bountiful LDS temple the very next weekend.Chad, myself, and our good friend Josh taken while we were still dating. Boy, we look young! One of our last days in Rexburg, and single for that matter! This was taken just outside my apartment. I wanted to get another one outside my old apartment this weekend and a nice girl now living there happily obliged. This is us now, 6 1/2 years, and 3 kids later!!

The Rexburg, Idaho Temple

When we drove into Rexburg Saturday morning, Chad and I were a little disappointed because there was heavy fog and we couldn't see the temple until we were right on top of it. Typical of Rexburg, it was bitter cold, but the temple was very beautiful.The kids did pretty good during the open house considering their ages, but this temple unfortunately has a whole lot of stairs that were hard for the little legs to climb. It was nice to finally be able to take the boys inside the temple, since they have only been able to go inside the waiting room until now. If you look close in the picture above, you can see me, Keek and Emmi by the doors. Of course Sam snuck away and is off to the left and (Chad is taking the picture of course). After the temple, we had to take a little drive around campus and see what's changed since we've left. (As much as we could see with the dang fog!) Here we are in the bookstore.

Now That's One Big Burger!

One of the highlights of our trip to Idaho had to be a stop to "Big Jud's" for some greasy goodness. This little restaurant is literally out in the middle of nowhere but is worth the trip. Big Jud's is actually home of the 1 lb. burger if you can believe it. It is the biggest burger I've ever seen!! It is so big that we ordered one to share. We cut it just like a pie!

Doesn't it look good!! Um, yummy!!If you can eat a whole one by yourself, they take your picture and put it on their wall. There is even a space for people who ate 2 and 3 lb. burgers! Now, that's just disgusting if you ask me. But, you'd be surprised at how many people have eaten them!
Well, we all ate and ate until we were ready to pop. Even Emmi chowed down on the fries. We had such a good time.

Ode to the Computer..

How we love thee, let us count the ways... Earlier this summer, we snapped this shot of Keaton and Sam playing on the computer. We were so proud of Keaton who had just learned how to use the mouse and play games all by himself. Keep in mind that this kid is only 4 years old! Within a few weeks he was able to conquer most of the games on noggin.com and was moving on to nick.jr's site. He is too smart. One day Chad was on the internet and got up to get a drink. So Keek jumped on, logged off Chad's page and onto the boys' before Chad got back to his seat. Needless to say, Chad and I have to fight him for any time on it ever since. Well, in the last couple weeks, look who else has learned how to use the computer: Sam! He is only 2, so I didn't expect him to pick it up for a couple of years, but I guess he was determined to play like big brother. He still has trouble staying away from the "right click" button every now and then and starts printing or zooming out during one of the games, but I'd say he is pretty good for his age. I bet between him and Keaton, they almost know as much about the computer as their "Damma"!! ha ha ha (Just kidding Mom) So, now there are 4 people in our house competing for the computer. AAaaahhhhh! He is so proud of himself, look how happy he is! Okay, Sam had enough of me taking pictures, "No more Mom!"

Dancer-in-training...

As I noted in my Christmas blog, Emmi got a leotard and tutu from Chad's mom for Christmas. Well, I finally got it out and put it on her. The tutu is a little big, but I think it is really sweet on her. Kim, (Chad's mom), has taught dance for years and years and I would love to have Emmi take dance from her. Even if Kim isn't teaching, I'm still putting this little girl in dance somewhere. Her Momma, her grandma Kim, aunt Kristin and cousin Mccall love to dance, so we hope that she will too! I think the bow looks kinda funny, but it looked worse without it- the girl needs to grow some hair!!

A short trip to Portland...

To prep for our upcoming vacation to Hawaii, Chad's boss graciously offered to fly me anywhere close for a quick "tune-up". (My last flight was not a good experience to say the least). So, Chad and I picked Oregon so we could visit with his grandparents in Portland. Boy, he must like us, huh!! This last weekend we dropped our two boys off at my mother-in-law's house (thanks again Kim for your help!) and took off with our little princess in tow. Of course we got delayed a half hour at the airport. Chad was trying to listen to his new MP3 player, but Emmi was way too interested in his earphones to leave them be. And yes, Emmi is in her jammies because by time we left for Portland it was almost her bedtime and we foolishly believed she would fall asleep on the plane, WRONG! For most of the ride Emmi wanted to stand up in her car seat and even try to chew on it. I was just glad she was happy.
Well, I debated on posting this picture because frankly I look terrible! But, I was shocked to see how red Emmi's hair looked in the light. I was strawberry-blonde when I was a baby, so I guess she gets it from me. The next morning after Grandma made us a scrumptious french toast breakfast, we head off to see the sights. First on my list was to see the Portland Temple. Unfortunately because we had Emmi with us, we weren't able to go in and do a session, but the temple didn't disappoint; it was beautiful!! Here is a cute picture of Chad and Emmi with Grandma and Grandpa. Aren't they cute! We are so grateful that they let us come and stay with them. They spoiled us with lots of yummy food and wonderful company! It was just raining, but boy was it cold!! We tried to keep Emmers bundled up the whole time but her little face just kept poking out! I think this shot turned out really cool with the raindrops on the window. It was overcast and rainy all weekend. How unusual for Oregon! Ha Ha!
What is only natural to eat on a cold rainy day, ice cream of course!! Grandpa treated us to some that was oh-so-good, here by Lake Oswego. Lake Oswego is completely surrounded with homes. (multi-million dollar ones no less!) We couldn't help at be jealous of all the gorgeous homes living right on the lake. What a life! Grandpa also took us to see the falls in Oregon City. Honestly I can't remember the correct name of them, oops! But they were pretty. Here is a river (again another name I cannot remember) but it is just a few blocks from Grandma and Grandpa's. I could not believe how many rivers and lakes there were just in the small area we drove around in. It was so green, mossy and full of trees, everywhere we looked.
As if that isn't enough for one day, they took us out to eat with Grandpa's brother and wife who were so friendly and welcoming. Again, I think that I look like I've been through the war and lost in this picture, but there had to be some pictures that weren't just of Emmi, right!

Sunday morning we had a quick breakfast before heading back to the airport. Emmi has discovered the "cheerio" and was constantly scarfing them down all weekend. Here she is in Grandma's kitchen, eating Cheerios of course.
A tune-up flight wouldn't be a tune-up without some problems to test my abilities, I guess. This time we boarded the airplane on time, but because of a heavy snow storm here at home, we waited on the plane for close to an hour before we took off! It would be just my luck!!

As you can see, Emmi kept busy with daddy's drawstring for quite awhile. It is truly amazing what simple things entertain babies. Well, not counting the 45-minute wait at the baggage claim to find our luggage, the rest of the trip went very smoothly. Again, I am so grateful to Chad's boss for giving us this trip and for Grandma and Grandpa for making it a very fun weekend. Thanks again!